Does Sex Sell in Football, and Does It Matter?

In the world of advertising, sex absolutely sells.

It’s considered by many to be a perfectly valid means of promoting an idea, product or campaign. But it wasn’t until recently that this marketing "mechanism" became used in sport and, more specifically, football.

But how is it being used? And more importantly, how should it be used?

Would Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin—founder of the modern Olympic Games—tune into the women’s Olympic volleyball following Forbes magazine’s article about the sexual exploitation of the athletes? Would Jules Rimet be happy to read about the Netherlands' victory at the Lingerie World Cup in the Daily Mail?

To offer a different point of view, is it OK when this marketing tool is used by Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham, who were both paid large sums of money to pose in underwear? Was it fine when Gary Hoenig—editorial director of ESPN Publishing—announced ESPN The Magazine’s first “Body Issue,” featuring famous athletes naked, was "in the top 5 bestselling [issues] in the last five years," speaking to CNBC.

It’s clear a line in the sand needs to be drawn, but deciding where that line is could be tricky.

It seems it comes down to whether the athletes are being exploited. For example, a recent short-less picture sent Brondby ladies' Theresa Nielsen’s Instagram account into overdrive after her team's 3-2 win over title rivals Fortuna Hjorring, as reported by the Mirror (NSFW).

Was it Theresa’s intention to gain international media coverage and increase her Instagram followers more than fourfold? We might never know, but the point is she was able to effectively increase her followers—a form of data capture—and gain global PR exposure. No one was exploiting her and she reaped the rewards.

For athletes playing American Football in the controversial Legends Football League—formerly known as the Lingerie Football League—this isn't the case. "Players [in the Legends Football League] are unpaid, must provide their own insurance, and clothing offers dubious protection” as reported by the Guardian.

Which all seems very odd for an organisation that has claimed "profitability since its inception in 2009" and now "boasts 10 American franchises, with the league identifying an additional 16 markets in the United States," according to Forbes.

The founder of the Legends Football League, Mitch Mortaza, was once quoted on Marketwired as saying:

"

We as a nation are consumed by sex and sports; now we have combined both elements opposite highly viewed sporting events targeting an already-captive audience. The Lingerie Sports Franchise will offer an escape from overly produced conservative lip-synching shows surrounding the Super Bowl while providing corporate advertisers an effective means of reaching the highly coveted yet elusive category of Adults 18-49.

"

In 2013, a campaign was launched on petition platform Change.org to stop Channel Seven (7mate) broadcasting the Lingerie Football League ahead of its arrival in Australia.

What about the views of non-athletes, governing bodies and sponsors? It seems the recent scandal surrounding a pair of Adidas t-shirts ahead of the World Cup opens a second can of proverbial worms.

According to Yahoo Sports, "One featured an 'I love Brazil message' with the heart shaped to look like female buttocks. The other showed a bikini-clad girl asking, 'Looking to Score?'."

Tourism board Embratur said they "strongly repudiate the sale of products that link Brazil's image to sexual appeal." Following Embratur's statement, Adidas withdrew both shirts from sale, which is unjust when you consider no athlete—or non-athlete—was exploited. At the same time, Mitch Mortaza and the Legends Football League become richer, more successful and plan global expansion at the expense of their athletes.

Also operating in this grey area are various adverts created by media agencies. Some are incredibly clever, but their creative genius is clearly not appreciated by everyone.

For example, back in 2002, the BBC reported that the Independent Television Commission ruled a beer commercial shown during the World Cup was "too sexy to be shown before the watershed," adding:

"

In it, a woman poured beer around the house and her boyfriend was shown licking up the trail which led to her bedroom. She was waiting there in her underwear, ready to pour beer over herself.

"

That hasn't stopped other companies using the power of sex to sell and make it to air. Listed in an order in which the "lewd rating" progressively increases are contributions from Hahn Beer, Brahma Beer and Miller Lite. (Warning: The videos below are NSFW.)

Australia's Hahn Brewery decided to use a romantic gondola ride with an unexpected finish to sell one of its brands of beer.

Brazilian beer makers Brahma opted to use a man chatting up a girl at the bar and blend it with voodoo to sell their particular tipple.

Miller Lite’s controversial commercial entitled “Catfight” was broadcast to millions of homes during NFL playoff games.

All things considered, it’s clear when it comes to sex, sport and football, people’s opinions and sociocultural ideals play a huge part.

Having said that, Ronaldo getting paid a small fortune for posing in his underwear doesn't seem like sexual exploitation. Equally, it could be argued Theresa Nielsen was the one to reap the rewards of her cheeky picture (excuse the pun) because she increased the number of followers she has on social media.

However, it seems as though questions are raised when the pockets of large corporations such as Adidas and entrepreneurs such as Mitch Mortaza are lined while sex trafficking remains a real problem in Brazil and unpaid athletes play in their underwear without insurance.

For this reason, sex in football does matter. And the current grey area that exists may need to be made a little less grey.

Follow @RossEdgley